THE BEST IN BEAUTY FROM THOSE WHO KNOW BEST

VIOLET GREY began with our search for the best eyelash curler. To find the answer, we formed a band of inside-Hollywood experts and editors — from makeup artists to movie stars — to test every eyelash curler against our rigorous set of standards (the VIOLET CODE). We tested on film sets, on red carpets, and in the back of Jack Nicholson’s limousine — and once we learned which curler would make our lashes curve and not crimp (Utowa, it’s from Japan), we moved on to mascara, lip stain, dry shampoo, and everything else a girl needs in her cosmetic wardrobe. On any given day, we are discovering, testing, and approving best-in-class beauty. The result is a discerning curation of products, tips, and inspiration deemed essential — the Industry’s Beauty Edit.

“Vanity is very boring to me—so boring,” asserts makeup artist Rachel Goodwin. “For me, makeup is about expression and not about insecurity.” The Los Angeles–based artist, who has represented Chanel for the past nine years, is also a go-to for a devoted following that includes January Jones, Emma Stone, and Amber Valletta. Clients seek out Goodwin for her expert use of color and her ability to infuse natural beauty looks with an element of surprise—not to mention her easy mirror-side manner. “I’ve always been a girl’s girl,” Goodwin says. “[The makeup chair] can be an incredibly vulnerable place, so I’m always trying to set the stage for trust and for something great to happen.”

Goodwin has been setting that stage for a long time. At age 3, she began obsessively drawing women’s faces, a pastime that evolved over the years. “I would always have them dripping in diamonds,” she says. By the time she was 9, growing up in San Francisco, Goodwin was “obsessed with iconic beauties like Marilyn [Monroe], Marlene Dietrich, and Greta Garbo,” and beginning to use real faces as her canvas. “I plucked out so many of my poor friends’ eyebrows trying to make them into Greta Garbo. There were many, many brow casualties,” she remembers with a laugh. Later, Goodwin began studying with the head makeup designer for the San Francisco Opera and moonlighting doing makeup at fetish clubs. “That was very big in San Francisco,” she says. “I loved it because I could use a lot of glitter.” When her high-fashion aspirations outgrew San Francisco, Goodwin went east to paint a bigger town. In New York, she assisted big-name artists like Linda Cantello, James Kaliardos, and Tom Pecheux while working part time at the MAC Pro store and doing test shoots on her lunch breaks. “I was absolutely determined,” she says. “I remember Linda Cantello telling me, ‘No one will know your name for ten years.’ And I was like ‘What? That can’t be!’ But you know, she was right—to the day.”

Goodwin’s break came in 2000 with an introduction to photographer David LaChapelle, who hired her for an editorial job in L.A. It went so well that Goodwin wound up moving here. “I had a fashion book instead of an actress book, which was rare in L.A., so I was immediately hired by photographers who were out here from New York,” she says. “I was able to jump the line a little.” Soon afterward, she was working with such reigning Hollywood queens as Jodie Foster and Diane Lane, rising stars of the time, like Jennifer Lawrence and January Jones, and supermodel Amber Valletta, who had been a longtime inspiration. “She’s one of my absolute dream faces,” Goodwin enthuses. “She epitomizes strong female beauty. In the nineties, there was this one image of Amber in i-D that I ripped out and hung on the wall of my apartment in Queens. Years later, I’m in her house and there’s [the original] on her wall and she’s telling me the story about it…”

By the time Chanel came knocking in 2004, it was clear that Goodwin was a force to be reckoned with. She also happens to be one of the most benevolent forces around. Her relationship with her clients is almost shamanic. “It’s a conversation, ‘Where are you at? What do you want to reflect today?’” she says. “I have to be able to help them connect to what they want to express, and what they’re feeling as women.” Goodwin is also an irresistibly down-to-earth mother of two who runs an ice cream Instagram, @thesundaetimes, in her spare moments. (“Ice cream is a very emotionally charged food,” she says.) While she longed for mass appeal early in her career, she has come to a place of extreme comfort with herself as a person and an artist. “I grew up, and figured out that I had a unique outlook that was only right for particular people. I ended up working with these incredible women who like themselves,” she says. “There’s a quote, ‘I’d rather be someone’s shot of whiskey than everyone’s cup of tea.’ And that’s really how I see it.”

violet
inquires

Rachel Goodwin on beauty essentials, swooning for Swinton, and the longest makeup routine in history.

Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Serum. I use it under and over almost every makeup I do. It’s my favorite way to prep skin because it creates the perfect canvas.

MUSE

I love Lou Doillon’s style. She has that cool French girl thing that gets me every time. Chrissie Hynde is my rock-and-roll style icon—she’s such a badass! And if I had a time machine I would love to be a witness to Empress Joséphine’s four-hour beauty routine. It was supposedly even more elaborate than Marie Antoinette’s.

DRUGSTORE DISCOVERY

Burt’s Bees Radiance body lotion. One of my clients turned me on to this a few years back. It has a subtle shimmer that photographs beautifully. I use it regularly for shoots and red carpet events.

I hang out with people who make me laugh, eat lots of avocado and coconut oil, wear sunscreen every day, and never go to bed without drenching my skin in moisturizer. So far no medical procedures, but I’m not saying never.

CAN’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT

My Make Up For Ever brushes and my Beauty Blender sponges. Makeup artists are essentially painters, so my tools are everything.

MIRACLE WORKER

SK-II masks are my saving grace—they make my skin look like I’ve actually had a good night’s sleep in the past six months.

DREAM APPOINTMENT

Tilda Swinton is like a unicorn. I would love to work with her. I have no idea what I would do, but I suppose she’d make me look like a genius because she can pull off anything. Or I might just faint.

Toni Chavez takes care of my hair color. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s got my natural base down to a fine art.

MASSEUR

Gregory Lewis. He is the most amazing masseur I’ve ever known, an actual miracle worker. I’ve never had a better massage.

PREFERRED VACATION DESTINATION

We love to rent a house over the water in Tomales Bay, right outside Marin County where I grew up, and eat oysters day and night. I am also drawn to New Orleans like a moth to a flame. For weekend trips we can’t get enough of Ojai.

HEALTH & WELLNESS SPOT

When I’m under the weather I get vitamin shots at Cedarhouse on Cahuenga Boulevard. They also have infrared saunas and sell tonics and the like. It’s a one-stop shop when you need a little health boost.

“I’m obsessed with this place. The owner was the pastry chef at Water Grill and started his own shop. It’s probably one of my absolute favorite places to get a sundae. Sadly, I don’t get there very often because it’s in the Valley...or maybe it’s better that way.”